Orlando Music Festival

Kiss, Def Leppard, Flaming Lips

March 1, 2016 – 09:27 am

Is 2016 the best year to be launching an all-new music festival? Especially one heavy on classic rock at the top of the bill?

Attacking that not-so-rosy outlook head-on are the dazzlingly becodpieced demons of Kiss, who will headline the lineup for the all-new Moonstone Music Festival, coming to Orlando's Central Florida Fairgrounds on April 30 and May 1.

Def Leppard, the Flaming Lips, Scott Stapp, Kansas, Vintage Trouble, Surfer Blood, Sebastian Bach, White Buffalo and Raven Eye are also among the first wave of acts announced for the festival, which will feature 150 acts across six stages of music, comedy and more.

It is, in the words of a festival, a lineup designed to "stimulate the soul, delivering positive emotions, passion, party and celebration for festivalgoers all while paying homage to the rock gods." That should set it apart from most other big festivals this year - odds are you won't see Skrillex, Odesza or Fetty Wap here - but will it be enough to get yet another new Florida festival off the ground?

The Orlando Festival is the oldest chamber music festival in the Netherlands. It is an annual event, organised since 1982 in the former abbey of Rolduc in Kerkrade, in the south of the country. The festival was founded by Stefan Metz, who at that time was a member of the Orlando Quartet, after which the festival is named.

John "hex" Carter is best known as the creator and executive director of the Orlando music festival Nerdapalooza
Carter was born in Whittier, California, but grew up in the San Clemente area and graduated from San Clemente High in 2001. He attended Valencia Community...